Reno's Old Granite Street, Rounds Bakery announce $10 million merger

RENO, Nev. — Stanley Restaurant Group, owners of Old Granite Street Eatery and Rue Bourbon in Reno, have merged with Sterling Group Nevada, the parent company of Rounds Bakery, to form a company called Life Tastes Good, the entities announced Dec. 10.

According to a Dec. 10 press release, after COVID-related business shutdowns began in March, Stanley Restaurant Group owners Kevin and Kaya Stanley turned Old Granite Street into an essential market providing curbside pickup for everything from toilet paper and lunchmeat to Revision Beer and gourmet burgers.

Around the same time, Rounds Bakery owners Anton Novak and Sean Cary joined forces with the Stanleys to start a “Feed Our Heroes” campaign, which served over 65,000 meals to frontline healthcare workers and first responders during the first wave of the COVID crisis.

Those partnerships in the spring led to the eventual merger of both companies, which is valued at $10 million, according to the Dec. 10 press release.

“Increasing revenue is a requirement for a bar, coffee shop, or ski resort to survive this,” Kevin Stanley said in a statement. “But unpredictable food and staffing costs coupled with crippling and unpredictable regulations have created moving targets that for many are nonstarters. Rather than watch our friends wait it out at the mercy of landlords and government, we have found them a solution.”

In the short-term, Life Tastes Good will continue to focus on helping bars, coffee shops, ski resorts, hotels and other venues “optimize their revenue by installing markets and private labeling grab-n-go foods from its wholesale kitchen.”

The company also “hinted at a new flagship location that will open in early 2021,” according to the press release.

According to a Dec. 10 article from the Reno Gazette Journal's Jason Hidalgo, plans include a new location at The Outlets at Legends in Sparks, where the Stanleys originally planned to open a second Old Granite Street restaurant location.

The story also reports a second location is planned for downtown Reno.

“I am thrilled that our wholesale kitchen has turned out to be such a helpful solution to so many.” Novak said in a statement. “We started this business to feed people. The fact that we are also helping other businesses survive the pandemic fills me up.”

In the interim, customers can still shop online at roundsbakery.com or visit the retail outlet at Old Granite Street Eatery at 243 S. Sierra St. in downtown Reno.

The new company is also launching a website: lifetastesgood.com.